• Disclosure Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Contact

Protecting Your Pennies

Buy Smart. Plan. Play

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube
  • Home
  • Trim Healthy Mama
    • Meal Plans
    • What I Ate Wednesday
    • Recipes
      • Breakfast
      • Main Meal
      • Desserts
      • Snacks
  • Buy Smart
    • Discounts
    • Holidays
    • Sales & Deals
  • Plan
    • Holiday Treats
    • Cleaning & Organization
  • Play
    • Travel
    • Kid Activities
    • Gifts
  • About Me
  • Contact
  • Shop
  • Cart
  • Checkout

S Meal

THM Fuel Rotation – When to Eat S, E, FP and XO

January 2, 2021 by Stacy Craft 2 Comments

When first starting Trim Healthy Mama, understanding when to eat S and E meals can seem a bit overwhelming. Learn the easiest way to use THM fuel rotation to keep you on plan and losing weight!

Trim Healthy Mama Fuel Rotation - When to Eat the S E & FP Meals

If you are just starting or about to start Trim Healthy Mama, welcome! The THM community is so happy to have you join this way of eating. 

I remember starting THM years ago and having questions. Lots of questions! What do the E, S & XO acronyms mean? Do I really have to eat every three hours? When do I eat each different fuel? 

All these questions can seem overwhelming but there are tons of resources that explain this plan simply and make it easy to follow. 

If you have lots of questions, check out this Trim Healthy Mama A to Z post that tackles every question you might have from A to Z! But here we are going to discuss THM fuel rotation. When to eat S meals, E meals, FP & XO’s – when you finish this post you will have an idea of how to plan out your schedule of eating for success. 

(Affiliate Links are used in this post. A small commission may be paid to me at no extra cost to you and that helps to support this page. Please see my disclosures page for additional information.)

THM Fuel Rotation – When to Eat S, E, FP and XO

Learning when to each fuel is a question that I see over and over in the THM beginners group. And I have good news and bad. 

The good news is that there is no hard and fast rule as to when to eat each fuel. (This is only bad news if you are a stickler for a plan!) What I like about this is that you really can’t mess up. 

So you can get that potential failure out of your head. There are a few guidelines & I’ll share how I usually do it to give you an example but overall you just can’t mess up!

Planning Your THM Day of Meals 

There are pretty much two types of Trim Healthy Mama’s. Those that plan & those that like to live on the edge and pick their fuel every 3 hours as meal time pops up. And maybe there is a third THM that meal plans and then follows that plan loosely over the course of the week.

For example, Monday meal plan says spaghetti for dinner and Tuesday say tacos. On Monday if I’m craving tacos, we just move the meal plan around. You guessed it – this is my style of THM.

So let’s take a look at how that works. 

Meal Planning Fuels

When creating a meal plan, list out all the fuel type next to each meal. This will help you to make sure that you are getting the number of S & E meals that you desire. 

You can check out this meal planning on THM post if you need some help & this free printable THM Meal planner. 

Free Style Fuels

The other method of fuel rotation is simply eating what you feel your body needing. So as a simple example, this morning I woke up and walked into my kitchen. I thought about eggs but it just didn’t sound good. 

After searching around, the loaf of sprouted bread seemed to be calling my name. I went from thinking I would eat eggs (S) to craving the sprouted bread (E). I ended up making a spur of the moment breakfast of sprouted toast, cottage cheese, a few sliced tomatoes and everything but the bagel seasoning. 

How Many E’s Should I Eat per Week? 

5 to 7 E meals per week are recommended on THM. Some people do more and do great losing weight. There are other mamas that can’t do as many E meals if they want to shed the pounds.

It is important to remember that these are guidelines and to watch how YOUR body does with the E meals vs. the S meals and then plan accordingly. 

I like to get my E meals in at breakfast and as snacks since I prefer an S meal typically for dinner. That is just a personal preference though! 

But Aren’t XO’s Bad? 

I see a lot of misinformation about XO’s on the Facebook groups from time to time. It typically comes from a well meaning mama that just hasn’t completely learned the plan. They tell a group of mamas something slightly inaccurate & it spreads from there.

Here are some things I see about XO (Crossovers):

False: Crossovers are not on plan.  Crossovers are definitely on plan. A crossover is simply a plate that is an E & a S mixed together. Example: A steak (S) and a sweet potato (E) at a meal = a XO because you mixed the two fuels. (A FP food is like Switzerland and is not offensive to either an E or an S meal. So you can have a FP on your S plate or your E plate without crossing over) 

False: XO’s are not good for weight loss. The sisters never say that you can’t lose weight eating an occasional XO. They just say that it is harder to lose weight if you are eating lots of them and that they may be better left to those at goal weight, nursing mamas, kids and men. 

However, many of us find that an occasional XO (for me that looks like once a week but could be different for you) actually jump starts weight loss sometimes. It is also a great way to avoid going off plan. Going back to my steak example, if having a sweet potato with your steak on a date with your husband helps you avoid the bread basket – I say do it! 

What About These Sad FP’s?

Fuel Pulls have very little fat or carbs. You can eat them with E or S fuels without crossing over. 

Many people find them less satisfying than the E or S fuels but they have their place. They help to bulk up S or E meals with very few calories which is a great way to get full when you are trying to lose weight. We don’t count calories on THM but we try not to abuse them too! 

Some find that having a meal of just Fuel Pull foods will help aid in weight loss. You can definitely add in a FP meal here or there but there is no recommendation or rule that you have to do this. You can read more about FP’s here.

A THM Fuel Rotation Example Plan 

THM fuel rotation is really mostly a preference and not a hard and fast rule. But I know that when you are starting something new, sometimes an example or a guide is helpful to form a visual of what you should be doing. 

If you are following the 5-7 E meals a week guideline, that means that you can think about one E meal per day in general. So here is how I would conduct a THM fuel rotation for one day. 

Breakfast: THM Veggie Oatmeal Hack with blueberries (add protein powder or some lean deli meat/Greek yogurt for added protein) E meal

Lunch: Snacky Lunch (Salami, Cheese, Cashew, Mini peppers) S Meal 

Snack: Light Laughing Cow Cheese on Celery with a light sprinkle of Everything But the Bagel Seasoning and lean turkey lunch meat – FP Meal 

Dinner:  Salsa Verde Chicken and Queso Cauli Rice – S meal

Want more inspiration for meal plans and THM fuel rotation? Try these free plans. 

  • THM 7 Day Drive Thru Sue No Cook Meal Plan
  • No Cook THM Breakfast Ideas
  • 7 Frugal THM Dinner Ideas
  • 5 THM Freezer Meals
  • THM Meal Plan 1

New to THM? These Guides Will Help Make Life Easier!

  • 23 Store Bought THM Desserts
  • THM Store bought Snacks – No refrigeration required
  • 12 THM Store Bought Breads
  • Store Bought THM Tortillas and Wraps 

Filed Under: Featured, Plan, Trim Healthy Mama Tagged With: E Meal, FP Meal, S Meal, THM Fuel rotation, Trim Healthy mama, XO Meal

Low Carb Salsa Verde Chicken Enchiladas

November 26, 2018 by Stacy Craft 14 Comments

These low carb salsa verde chicken enchiladas will have you feeling anything but deprived! Rich, cheesy and delicious Mexican food without the carbs!

Low Carb Salsa Verde Chicken Enchiladas

Low Carb Chicken Enchiladas with Salsa Verde Queso

These low carb salsa verde chicken enchiladas are smothered in a 2 ingredient cheesy queso. This recipe was inspired by my most popular Keto recipe on this blog – salsa verde chicken with cauliflower rice. That recipe has been pinned over 100,000 times so I wanted to stuff that recipe into low carb tortilla and call it an enchilada! And since i have already made it into nachos, enchiladas seemed like the right thing to do.

I love Mexican food. I often joke that I could eat it for breakfast. And the couple of times that we have vacationed to Mexico, I have done just that. So when I started my low carb journey, my first worry aside from dessert was my beloved tacos and enchiladas.

It is so nice to be able to eat creamy chicken enchiladas without any guilt. I ate two tonight and just had to share this simple and delicious recipe with you.

(Affiliate Links are used in this post. A small commission may be paid to me at no extra cost to you and that helps to support this page. Please see my disclosures page for additional information.)

Low Carb Salsa Verde Chicken Enchiladas

I have been doing the Trim Healthy Mama diet on and off for the past 9 months. The hardest thing to me about the lifestyle is convenience foods. Lots of people tend to make eating low carb complicated when it doesn’t have to be.

These 5 ingredient low carb salsa verde chicken enchiladas use the grocery store’s best low carb convenience item as it’s star ingredient. A rotisserie chicken. If you eat low carb or are on THM and you need a quick and easy on plan meal, pick up a rotisserie chicken!

Low Carb Mission Tortillas, Shredded Chicken, Block of Cream Cheese, Salsa Verde

^I forgot to put the cream cheese in the picture. That is what cooking with a 4 year old and an 13 month old will do to you.

With just a few minutes of prep work and then 20 minutes in the oven, you will have a delicious plate of comfort food that I promise you would eat if you were not on a “diet.”

Prepare the Queso

The biggest key to a smooth queso is letting your cream cheese soften before heating it. You can tell from looking at my pictures that I was impatient tonight and did not let the cream cheese soften enough.

Green Salsa verde Queso - Low Carb - Keto - Trim Healthy Mama THM S

If you don’t let it soften up long enough, you may have trouble getting it to melt completely. Don’t worry if this happens, it might not be as pretty but it still tastes great!

After your cream cheese is soft, add it to a small saucepan over medium/low to medium heat with the salsa verde. Allow the cream cheese to melt, stirring occasionally. It usually takes about 10 minutes.

Assemble the Green Salsa Enchiladas

When I make these low carb salsa verde chicken enchiladas, I do not measure the filling. I just toss it in and roll it up. However, I will try and give approximate amounts if you prefer to see a measurement.

Low Carb chicken enchilada filling

Add about 2 tablespoons of shredded chicken, a tablespoon of shredded cheese and a drizzle of the cream cheese and green salsa queso to each low carb tortilla. Roll up and place in your prepared casserole dish seam side down.

Pan of Low Carb Chicken Enchiladas covered in salsa Verde queso

Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes, uncovered. Top the enchiladas with sour cream and cilantro when served. We also ate these with a simple avocado side salad.

Salsa Verde Queso Drenched Chicken Enchiladas

My husband is not usually thrilled about leftovers but he asked the next day if we had any more enchiladas! I hope you try these low carb salsa verde chicken enchiladas. They were a great change up for us from all the Turkey and dressing that we at last week during Thanksgiving.

Print Recipe
Low Carb Salsa Verde Chicken Enchiladas
Prep Time 10
Cook Time 20
Servings
Ingredients
  • 2 cup Shredded Chicken (I use rotisserie)
  • 1 1/2 cup shredded cheese
  • 1 block Cream cheese softened
  • 1 15 oz Jar salsa verde
  • 8 low carb tortillas
Prep Time 10
Cook Time 20
Servings
Ingredients
  • 2 cup Shredded Chicken (I use rotisserie)
  • 1 1/2 cup shredded cheese
  • 1 block Cream cheese softened
  • 1 15 oz Jar salsa verde
  • 8 low carb tortillas
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Prepare a 9x13 baking dish by spraying with non-stick spray.
  3. Place the softened cream cheese and the jar of salsa into a medium saucepan.
  4. Melt on medium low for about ten minutes or until the cream cheese is completely melted.
  5. Spread some of the salsa verde/cream cheese queso into the baking dish and spread to lightly cover the bottom.
  6. Place one tortilla on a plate, add a couple of tablespoons of shredded chicken to the center, add a tablespoon or two of shredded cheese and drizzle some of the salsa verde/cream cheese queso down the middle.
  7. Roll up the enchilada and place seam side down into the baking dish.
  8. Continue making the remaining 7 enchiladas.
  9. Top the enchiladas with the remaining salsa verde/cream cheese mixture. Add any remaining shredded cheese to the top as well.
  10. Bake uncovered for 20 minutes until heated through.

Hope you enjoy these low carb salsa verde chicken enchiladas as much as we did! Check out my Low Carb secret ingredient breaded pork chops too!

Filed Under: Main Meal, Plan, Recipes Tagged With: cheesy, chicken, dinner, easy, enchiladas, low carb, mexican food, quick, recipe, S Meal, salsa verde, THM, Trim Healthy Mama S

Primary Sidebar

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube

Subscribe & Never Miss a Recipe!

A Little About Me

Hey - I'm Stacy! Join me on a journey to buy smart, plan and save so that you can also PLAY!

Copyright © 2023 · Lifestyle Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in